World News - Corporate muscle is brought to bear on national disaster planning

Executives at Home Depot were watching the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York from the company's emergency command center in Atlanta — a room with banks of TVs and phone lines. They saw that rescue workers' boots were being sliced by the smoldering steel remains of the World Trade Center towers."We sent 40,000 pairs of work boots to New York right away," CEO Bob Nardelli says. He's not looking for praise. In fact, he thinks the way Home Depot — and other U.S. corporations — got information about what they could do to help in that disaster, and during Hurricane Katrina four years later, was ridiculous. "We saw it on CNN!" he says, exasperated.Now, nearly 30 CEOs have teamed in an unprecedented effort to set up an "emergency protocol" with the U.S. government and charities so they can all respond better to the next natural or manmade disaster. ... http://www.usatoday.com

The General Assembly will appoint South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon as the next U.N. secretary-general on Friday, giving him a 2 1/2-month transition before taking over from Kofi Annan on Jan. 1. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, the assembly president, set the appointment of the new secretary-general for Friday afternoon, assembly spokeswoman Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte said late Wednesday. "The General Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution, hopefully by acclamation, appointing Mr. Ban Ki-moon as the next secretary-general of the United Nations," Sainte said. "We expect him to take the oath of office as soon as he is officially appointed but he doesn't take office until Jan. 1." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2556386

US President George W Bush has said North Korea will face "serious repercussions" over its claim to have carried out a nuclear test. Mr Bush said Washington was working to confirm the claim, but would increase its co-operation with allies on ballistic weapons defence systems. The comments came as Japan imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea in response to its claim. The US is leading efforts to get the UN to impose separate measures. Earlier, North Korea's second most powerful leader threatened more tests if the US remained "hostile", in the first comments from a senior North Korean official since the claimed nuclear test on Monday. The underground test reportedly took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT). Russia is the only country to have confirmed that it was a nuclear explosion. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6041604.stm

When they buried Rafiq Siam, the traffic stopped and hundreds of armed men, some firing into the air, gathered at the Gaza mosque. Eight men wearing red berets and black combat uniforms lifted his body wrapped in a white shroud and Palestinian flag and carried it inside with as much ceremony as the pressing crowd would allow. Mr Siam, 40, a father of seven, was the victim of a single bullet to the base of his skull. He died on Sunday a week after he was shot, the latest victim in the worst outbreak of factional violence in Gaza for more than 10 years. Years of rivalry between the Islamic Hamas movement, which now dominates the government, and the more secular Fatah, which was ousted from power in January elections, is spilling over into a struggle for power. A few hours after the funeral, Mr Siam’s father sat with a dozen mourners outside the family home. His son, he explained, had worked at the office of the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1903820,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

A small plane crashed into a high-rise on Manhattan's Upper East Side, setting off a raging fire that sent a pillar of gray smoke over the city, police said Wednesday. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries. It was not immediately known if it was terrorism. A witness on the ground said she saw a small plane lose altitude, then level out at a low altitude before it disappeared behind another building. She then heard about the crash from media sources.Flames could be seen shooting from windows on two upper floors of the 50-story building, near the East River. Burning debris fell from the tower, and a column of gray smoke rose over the city.Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi said the aircraft struck near the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street.The building is reportedly housed the Bel-Air condominiums. Weather at the time of the crash limited visibility....http://www.katu.com/news/4374016.html

Paper-recycling tycoon Zhang Yin has become the first woman to top the list of China's richest people, with a fortune of $3.4bn (£1.8bn). Ms Zhang is the 49-year-old founder of Nine Dragons Paper, which buys scrap paper from the US for use in China. Her wealth rose from $375m last year, when she was 36th in the annual China Rich List, compiled by Hurun Report. Nine Dragons' shares have almost tripled in value since they were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Ms Zhang is now the richest self-made woman in the world, ahead of US TV celebrity Oprah Winfrey and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. She takes over the top position from retail magnate Huang Guangyu of Gome Electrical Appliances. There are 35 women on the 500-strong Hurun list, which contains 15 billionaires, double the number from 2005. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6039296.stm